Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 106 - Three Headmasters

They flew almost parallel to the ground; some even gave off a terrifying aura. Their pressure felt like a colossal mountain bearing down, palpable even from kilometers away.

Everyone held their breath as the suffocating pressure enveloped them. The aura radiating from this group could easily crush anyone in the Xiantian Realm. The square fell into silence, with everyone wearing expressions of awe and respect.

Fan Yeping trembled as he recognized the newcomers and quickly stepped forward to greet them. Each of them held an influential position in the Great Yan Dynasty, “Old headmasters, headmasters, and Teacher Zhao...why have you all come?”

The group acknowledged his greeting with a nod. Fan Yeping was only an Earth Grade teacher, the lowest rank among teachers. The arrivals, however, held high positions, with their students scattered throughout the empire. Most notably, the previous headmasters from the past two generations were among them. It had been hundreds of years since they last made an appearance, and it was unprecedented for headmasters of three generations to appear simultaneously.

“Who triggered the Nine Stars Illumination?” an old man named Fan Zhen asked. He was the current headmaster of the Imperial Academy and had been managing the academy for the past decade. After asking his question, he swept his gaze over all the participants, not commenting on the ten-odd people kneeling on the ground.

“Headmaster, that person is called Liu Wuxie!” Fan Yeping quickly replied. He gestured to Liu Wuxie, indicating him to come forward.

However, Liu Wuxie disregarded Fan Yeping. After all, Fan Yeping had intended to cripple him earlier. If he complied with Fan Yeping’s request now, what would that make him look like? His lack of action didn’t mean he had forgotten; he was merely biding his time, suppressing the murderous intent within him.

Chen Leyao nudged Liu Wuxie, signaling him to go forward. After all, it was unprecedented for headmasters of three generations to be present simultaneously, and they couldn’t afford to show any disrespect.

In the past, a teacher would handle the assessments as a routine task, but this year was different because Liu Wuxie had triggered the Nine Stars Illumination.

As Liu Wuxie approached, he scrutinized the seventeen individuals. He had sensed their arrival with his soul before they had even arrived. There wasn’t a hint of fear or awe on his face as he observed each of their faces, pausing for about a breath’s time on each one. Ultimately, he looked at Headmaster Fan and greeted, “Participant Liu Wuxie greets the headmaster!”

Liu Wuxie’s tone was calm, and he further emphasized the word ‘participant’ as he hadn’t gone through the third round of assessment, meaning that he still wasn’t a student of the Imperial Academy. While it was customary for students to show respect to their teachers, he was not obligated to do so as he was not yet a student. Therefore, they were on equal footing.

Chen Leyao quickly produced a book containing Liu Wuxie’s information, including his date of birth, cultivation level, and assessment results, and handed it to the headmaster.

After the headmaster scanned the book, he handed it to the previous headmaster. The previous headmaster was a middle-aged woman who looked to be in her forties. This was because powerful cultivators could halt the aging process in their bodies and even regain a youthful appearance once their cultivation reached a certain level.

Lao Zhaojun took the book over and scanned it before handing it to the headmaster from two generations ago. Despite his old age, his eyes were bright and alert. This individual was a legend who had led the students of the Imperial Academy to a decisive victory when the Great Yan Dynasty was under attack from three other dynasties, saving the Great Yan Dynasty from a crisis.

In the entire Great Yan Dynasty, there wasn’t a single person who didn’t know about Zheng Shiqiu. Even though he had retired decades ago, his name was still widely recognized. He was over two hundred years old.

Only the three headmasters could catch Liu Wuxie’s attention as they were all in the True Core Realm, and those in the True Core Realms were generally called Grandmasters. After becoming a Grandmaster, a cultivator’s lifespan would significantly increase, often extending to two to three hundred years.

The other teachers’ cultivation was in the Marrow Cleansing Realm, but none of them had reached the True Core Realm.

Zhen Shiqiu looked at the book for ten minutes before he closed his eyes. Meanwhile, everyone present could barely contain their excitement at the sight of the three generations of headmasters. Each headmaster served a term of twenty years, and Fan Zhen had taken over the position from Luo Zhaojun ten years ago. However, in recent years, the Imperial Academy had been in decline, placing immense pressure on Fan Zhen.

The emergence of the Heavenly Govern Academy dealt a significant blow to the Imperial Academy, as it attracted many geniuses, leading to the Imperial Academy’s decline.

After contemplating, Zheng Shiqiu opened his eyes and looked at Liu Wuxie. He asked, “Was your cultivation slow before you turned eighteen?”

Some teachers seemed to grasp the meaning behind that question, while others remained baffled, not understanding why the former headmaster asked that.

“That’s right,” Liu Wuxie replied honestly. The information recorded in the book presented by Chen Leyao, especially the mockery he received earlier, made this clear.

Zheng Shiqiu turned to Luo Zhaojun and Fan Zhen, asking, “What are your thoughts?”

Fan Zhen shared his understanding, “The ‘Nine Stars Illumination’ signifies the possession of all nine attributes, a unique constitution that we’ve never encountered before. From the manuscripts left by our first headmaster, I’ve learned about the Nine Stars Illumination. Possessing multiple attributes indicates immense innate talent, but it also has a downside—the cultivation progress is slower compared to others.” He further explained that Liu Wuxie's slow progress in cultivation before he turned eighteen was likely due to his constitution.

“My opinion aligns with Lil’ Fan. Nine attributes require a considerable amount of time to refine the true essence. Even if the true essence is refined, the purity of his true essence is also nine times that of others!” Luo Zhaojun wasn’t disrespectful by addressing Fan Zhen as Lil’ Fan because Fan Zhen wasn’t even born when she had become famous.

“There are pros and cons to everything. Given that his true essence is nine times greater than others, he would naturally need nine times more resources. His inability to cultivate before the age of eighteen could be due to insufficient accumulation. His sudden breakthrough might be a result of him successfully refining his true essence.” She concurred with Fan Zhen’s viewpoint.

For example, everyone had a dantian, but their speed of absorbing and refining true essence differed. Liu Wuxie’s dantian was nine times bigger than others, meaning he had to absorb nine different attributes. Some attributes even rejected each other, and he would run amok if he weren’t careful. As a result, the speed of his cultivation was naturally slow.

It was no wonder why Luo Zhaojun said that there were pros and cons. The pros were that Liu Wuxie could store more true essence in his dantian, but the cons were that his cultivation would be slow.

However, Liu Wuxie sneered upon hearing their reasoning. Only he knew that the previous owner of this body had meridians as thin as hair. If it weren’t for the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, it would be impossible for him to possess so many attributes and the desolate dantian. It had nothing to do with his accumulation.

Liu Wuxie kept his thoughts to himself, preferring to let them speculate inaccurately. The Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron was a secret he couldn’t reveal to anyone. As for his cultivation progress, it wasn’t slow at all. With sufficient resources, he could quickly advance his cultivation using the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron. But this was a secret he wouldn’t share with anyone, not even his father-in-law, as he was well aware of the potential for human greed.

“He’s a good sapling, but it’s a pity he requires too many attributes. Those who can comprehend five attributes are already considered the talent of the millennium,” Fan Zhen expressed a tinge of regret with a long sigh.

Luo Zhaojun turned to Zheng Shiqiu and asked, “Teacher, is there any cultivation technique that can offset this disadvantage and allow him to refine spiritual energy quickly? This is a rare constitution, and if he can overcome this hurdle, his potential is boundless.” She believed that if they could find a solution to the cultivation technique, Liu Wuxie’s unique constitution would no longer be a problem.

“It’s difficult. There’s no solution to this constitution!” Zheng Shiqiu shook his head. He had a hint of pity flashing in his eyes. The information about Nine Stars Illumination might be recorded, but no one could possess nine attributes. The best result for the past few hundred years was only four attributes, and the Nine Stars Illumination was long forgotten.

“Three headmasters, you all mean that this constitution is rare, but it’s also flawed because he can’t fuse all the attributes no matter how he absorbed?” A middle-aged man stepped forward. This man had a high position in the Imperial Academy as a star teacher for teaching the Heaven Grade’s advanced class.

There weren’t many star teachers in the Imperial Academy, as most were first-class teachers or ordinary teachers like Fan Yeping.

“What Teacher Zhao said is right. This constitution might be rare, but it’s also flawed, which makes it a pity,” another teacher sighed in pity.

Upon hearing that Liu Wuxie’s constitution was considered flawed, a malicious grin appeared on Xue Pinzhi’s face. Headmaster Fan had suggested that Liu Wuxie’s rapid cultivation progress was due to the accumulation of the past eighteen years, implying that his future cultivation would be slow as he needed sufficient accumulation for further advancement. But would the Xue Clan allow Liu Wuxie to live for another eighteen years?

The so-called nine attributes were merely the energies of heaven and earth devoured by the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, allowing Liu Wuxie to absorb various attributes from his surroundings. This had nothing to do with any special constitution.

After all, his dantian had manifested into a world, and the Testing Pillar only showed nine attributes. Even if the Testing Pillar had more attributes, Liu Wuxie could also light them up.

“Student Xue Pinzhi has something to report!” Xue Pinzhi took a step forth, cupping his fists and bowing.

“What is it?” Fan Zhen frowned as he noticed ten-odd people kneeling on the ground.

“I would like to report that these people were crippled with their leg tendons severed because they offended Liu Wuxie. If not for this incident, they could have become students of the Imperial Academy. But now, they’ve lost that opportunity because of him. I implore the headmaster to seek justice for them!” His words were cloaked in a plea for justice for the ten-odd people, but his underlying murderous intent was well concealed.

“We request the headmaster to seek justice for us! He killed a participant yesterday and severed our leg tendons today. This means that we can’t walk in the future! If the Imperial Academy doesn’t give us an explanation, we’ll remain kneeling here!” Zhang Qing was the first to speak up, demanding Liu Wuxie to be punished.

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